SALZBURG, Austria, Dec. 8, 2019–Isabell Werth on Emilio won the World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle Sunday to qualify the first of her mounts for the Final in Las Vegas next April to defend the title she has won the past three years.

Fellow German Benjamin Werndl rode Daily Mirror, his 2019 Final partner, to a personal best score of 84.705% to place second but earn the maximum points available to vault to the top of the Western European standings.

Austria’s four-time Olympian Victoria Max-Theurer on Benaglio also logged a personal best 78.525% to place third. The previous best for Vici and the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding she has been competing at Big Tour since April was 76.725% at Nice, France in October.

Isabell rode the 13-year-old Westfalen gelding and ranked No. 9 in the world to a score of 85.905% for the victory and thus fulfill the requirement to complete two World Cup qualifiers to gain an automatic start at the Final of the annual world chamionship.

The German superstar has already completed one of two qualifying events on Weihegold OLD, the Olympic team gold medal mount on which she won three straight World Cup titles. This was the fifth of 11 qualifiers in Western Europe so has plenty of opportunities remaining to return to a Final with the 14-year-old Oldenburg mare on which is ranked No. 2 in the world behind her No. 1 horse, Bella Rose.

The next World Cup in Western Europe is scheduled for London Olympia Dec. 16-17 that will also be a test of a shortened Grand Prix, a different version to one tested at Olympia in 2018.